Four siblings gather to mourn their father for a seven day period. What ensues is dysfunction, old flames, new truths, childhood patterns and continued humour at the expense of others’ misery. Their mother, played by Jane Fonda is the cherry on this multi-layered and flavoured cake, who binds them together with an invisible glue and very visible ‘floatation devices’.

The four ‘poles apart’ siblings include Tina Fey (strong protective sister), Jason Bateman (the focal point of the unsolicited dramatic comedy), Adam Driver (youngest, most reckless and surprising sparks of wisdom),  Corey Stall (boring older brother) and their significant others make a bizarre family.

The strength of the film lies in its unpredictability. Our tendency as human beings to ‘judge’ is also challenged, the need to ‘plan’ everything till its ‘perfect’ is questioned and several ideas of ‘love’ are presented. Made for an adult audience, you come away with some nice one-liners and many laughs, all of which are situational.

Based on a book of the same name by Jonathan Trooper, the writing must be great to have the scenes play out as they do.

2.5/5